Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-02-05
PRISON LIFE IN SIBERIA.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FAMOUS Rus
SIAN PENAL SETTLEMENT.


More than 10000 Criminals Elk
lied Yearly-Political Prisons
The Life Led by Exiles.
For nearly two centuries, writes
Thomas w. Knox, in the New York
Star, Siberia has been famous, or infa-
nous, as place of Punishment for those
who offend against the social or political
laws Of Russia. Peter the Great began
the transportation of criminals to Sibe-
ria in 17l0; previous to that date the
country had been used as land of ban
ishment for officials whom the govern
ment wished to get out Of the way with
out putting them to death, but the num-
Der Of those deported individuals was not
large. Ever since Peters day the work
of exiling criminals to Siberia has been
kept up; the ordinary travel Of this sort
is about 10, 900 annually, and sometimes
it reaches as high as $4,000 or 13, 900.
Outside of this deportation Is that Of
revolutionists, nihilists and others who
offend politically rather than criminally,
though any opposition to the autocratic
power of the Car is likely to be re-
garded as criminal in the eyes of the
Russian government.
Sometimes the political prisoners are
mingled with the criminals, but ordi-
narily they are kept apart. In former
times the prisoners were compelled to
walk to their destinations, and the jour
ney from St. Petersburg to the regions
beyond Lake Baikal, distance Of nearly
1900 miles, occupied two years, and
sometimes more, and many of the e1iles
died on the road from fatigue and pri-
vations. It was found more economical
to transport the offenders in wagons or
s!eighs, or by rail and steamboat when
possible, than to require them to walk,
and for the last twenty years or more
five-sixths of the exi.es have been car
ried in this way. At points varying
from ten to twenty miles apart along the
great road through Siberia there are
houses for the lodgment of prisoners at
night. They afford shelter from the
weather, but very little else, as they are
almost always badly ventilated and
very dirty, and occupants sleep on the
bare floor or benches, without any other
covering than the clothes they wear.
sometimes in summer the officer in charge
of convoy of prisoners will permit them
to sleep out OF doors at night, instead of
entering the filthy stations, but in such
a case he requires the personal promise
of every exile in the convoy that he will
make no attempt to escape, and he
furthermore makes the whole party re-
sponsible for the individual conduct.
! Under such circumstances if one of the
/ prisoners should violate Ills pafoie and
run away. no further favors would be
shown to the rest, and they would be
put on low rations of food and other
wise punished. 1t is needless to say
they take good care that the promise is
kept This privilege is accorded only
to the conveys of political offenders.
The criminal classes are not considered
worthy of such confidence in their honor.
Prison life in Siberia is of many va
rieties, according to the offenses of diff
ferent individuals and the sentences
which have been decreed in their cases.
The lowest sentence is to simple banish-
ment for three years, and the highest to
hard labor for lile The simple exile
without imprisonment is appointed to
live in acertain town, district or province,
and must report to the police at stated
intervals. He may engage in certain
specified occupations, or rather in any
occupation which is not on a prohibited
list; for example, he may teach music or
painting, but he may not teach languages,
as they afford the opportunity for propa-
eating revolutionary ideas. He may be-
come merchant, farmer, mechanic, con-
tractor, or anything else of that sort, and
it not infrequently happens that exiles
enjoy degree of prosperity in their new
homes that they did not have in Eu-
ropean Russia. Exiles and their sons
have become millionaires in Siberia; a
former Vanderbilt Of Irkootsk, the capi-
tai of Eastern Siberia, was the son of an
exile serf, his enormous fortune having
been gained in the overland tea trade.
Many exiles become so attached to Sibe-
ria that they remain after their term
of banishment is ended, but it should be
understood that their cases are the ex-
captions rather than the rule. The wife
and immature children of an exile may
follow or accompany him at the expense
of the Government, but they cannot re-
turn to Europe until his term of service
has expired. The name of "prisoner'
or 'exile"is is never applied to the BAN
ished individuals; in the language of
the people they are called "unfortu-
mates, and in official documents they
are termed involuntary emigrants."
OF those sentenced to forced labor
some are ordered to become colonists;
they are furnished with the tools and
materials for building house on plot
of ground allotted to them, and for three
years can receive rations from the nearest
government station, but when the three
years have expired they are expected to
support themselves. If they were sent